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University Orchestra to open 2005-06 season, Oct. 21-22

Posted October 18, 2005; 05:09 p.m.

by Ruth Stevens

The Princeton University Orchestra will open its 2005-06 concert season at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22, in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall.

The orchestra, under the direction of Michael Pratt, will perform the
music of Sergei Prokofiev, Leonard Bernstein and Hector Berlioz.

Prokofiev's overture to the ballet "Trapeze" received its first (and
last) performance in 1925. After the premiere, Prokofiev broke up the
score for use in other works. The overture has been reconstructed by
London-based composer Samuel Becker, and these performances will be the
North American premiere of the work.

Also on the program will be Bernstein's suite from the 1954 Academy
Award-winning film "On the Waterfront." "Contrary to the usual
practice, Leonard Bernstein completed the score before the film was
shot, yet the fusion of music and drama is perfect," said Pratt. "The
events and flavor of this powerful film shine through in this brilliant
score."

Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique," the third piece on the program, is
considered the most popular work of the 19th-century French composer. A
semi-autobiographical composition, the symphony vividly depicts the
tortures of an unrequited love from the point of view of a young man
who has taken opium in his despair.

Tickets for the concerts are available online or by calling the Richardson box office at (609) 258-5000.